God Speaks Through Pain - 3

Extreme adversity with great pain is often a time when God removes the resources and supports that we normally rely on to feel secure - our careers, finances, friends, family, health and so forth.

When you find yourself in a painful experience, it is easy to sit and complain. However this is a time when you could be set up by God to hear a great word from Him. Listen! He may be wanting to show you an attitude or behavior that is destructive. You would be less quick to face this when times are pleasant. So, is this a discipline for sin, or a gentle warning, or is He using the pain in preparing you for a new task?

When faced with severe adversity it is easy to give in to Satan’s attack; “God has left you. Where is God? Why would He let this happen to you?” Remember, God has promised He will never leave us (though He sure seems distant at times!) "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Joshua 1:5b). We can trust Him.

A question to ask God during this time is, “Am I experiencing this tough time for the benefit of others?” We influence others by modeling for them while walking through pain.

These are times to pray and listen, instead of the natural response to get out of the situation as soon as possible. This could be a time to pray and wait upon the Lord. Be silent before Him and listen for His still, quiet voice.

God often leads us to amazing new discoveries as a result of walking through great adversity with Him. It could be a time of receiving “great treasures in darkness.” God uses pain to speak to His children.

God speaks Through Pain - 2

Maturation though suffering.
Continuing our study of listening to God. God speaks through pain - 2.
We’re all born selfish, arrogant and ego-centric. This state carries on to some degree until adulthood. God draws us to Himself and we begin a walk with Him.

For the new Believer it is a spiritual infatuation state – self-centered, thrilled with what Christianity has done for them. Out of this beginning we are asked to cooperate with God’s Spirit to forge lives of selflessness, compassion and love. This transformation is impossible apart from adversity. Suffering.

Becoming Christ-like and others-centered is a painful process. We tend to avert this route, possibly through an addiction or another avoidance mechanism, missing out on the opportunity for personal growth.

We have two choices: a maturing relationship with God or major disallusionment and growing selfishness that develops from avoiding suffering.

Suffering. The question is not whether we’ll suffer, but how we’ll suffer and just as important, how we’ll respond to suffering. Romans 5:3-5 helps us understand the Biblical role of suffering. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Catch the progression: suffering > rejoice > endurance (perseverance) > strength of character > hope > never disappointed. Not that we are masochistic and anticipate suffering with glee. But when adversity strikes, we choose: resist it and grow in self absorption; or, acknowledge the pain and realize it is an opportunity for personal growth. Rejoice, persevere, grow stronger in character.

Gary Thomas in his book Authentic Faith suggests that Character is forged only when we pass through fire. Suffering is ordained on our behalf, teaching us to endure with hope and patience, valuing it for the benefit it brings.

Suffering is not a house in which to dwell but a doorway to blessing.

God Speaks Through Pain.

One of my favorite passages is James 1:2-4 followed by a signifiant challenge in verse 5. Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. 5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

Notice “when” not if, troubles come, realize it is character building time and for clarification, ask God for wisdom on what He is doing and wanting to do for you through the pain.
Because of the pain of an unjust firing and a “forced” early retirement, I asked God for wisdom on what was happening. Over a period of time He showed me that the vocational desert was a stripping procedure – shreding me of a destructive self-sufficiency and of the idolatry of performance for recognition and approval (that had produced all sorts of emotional baggage.) God can speak to us through pain, if we ask him.

Os Hillman elaborates reflecting on this James 1 passage. He speaks to this in his devotional From Pain to Destiny.
“God often allows pain to ignite destiny in our lives. Without motivation, many of us would never fulfill the purposes for which God created us. Oftentimes a measured assault invades our life and creates a depth of pain that all we know to do is press into God with all our being.

“At first, our motivation is to alleviate the pain. After a season of extreme emotional and sometimes physical pain, a second phase begins. This phase moves us to discover a new and deeper relationship with God. We begin to discover things about ourselves and about God that we never would have discovered without this motivation. Gradually, our heart changes our motivation from pain to loving obedience because there is a transition of the heart that takes place. No longer do we seek God for deliverance from the pain; we seek God because He is God. We seek His face and not His hand.

“When we move to the second phase we often find ourselves moving into a new destiny and calling for our lives because God often separates us from the old life in this process. No doubt Joseph and Peter felt the pain of their individual crises. However, later they could realize God's purposes in their crisis. Like Joseph, we are able to say, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."

God speaks to us through pain. Pain that is self-induced. Pain that is others-caused. Or pain that is engineered by God for our good. God speaks to us through pain.

God Speaks Through People - 2

Continuing on the topic,”God speaks through people”, I received this word from God through my friend Dan.

Ray, Relax! Rejoice! Remember!
Our Father in Heaven whose name is above all names, who created us and all there is, who is the author of our salvation, and who loves us beyond anything we can comprehend, urged me to write you this morning. He wanted you and your inner child to know that He is your true Father. With the passing of your earthly father, your inner child needs to know that it is your heavenly Father who upholds you and is with you at all times and forever! (Who can comprehend such an amazing thing!!)

I effectively lost my earthly father at the age of 10 when my parents divorced. My inner child was lost for many years until one day I encountered the living Christ. I became a member of the family of God and my Heavenly Father revealed Himself to me. He pointed out to me that as necessary and wonderful as earthly fathers are and can be, they are only His representatives until such time as our inner child meets and embraces our true Father. What a joy and comfort it is to remember, when my inner child feels lost and alone, that my older Brother, Jesus, and my Heavenly Father, GOD, are right here with me, carrying me as though on eagles wings!! (I am overwhelmed at the realization!!)

My earthly father was returned to me as a friend in these later years and I thank God, my Heavenly Father for that! I am equally thankful that I was able, with the Lord’s help, to forgive my earthly father for not being there for me as I was growing up. I have repented of my sin of ingratitude and anger against my earthly father for not being what I wanted him to be and what only my Heavenly Father could be. How gracious my Heavenly Father is to forgive me and to love me and to be to me what my inner child really needs. I am so glad to realize that one day, by the grace of GOD, I will stand in the presence of my Heavenly Father without any animosity or barrier between my earthly father and me. What a gift forgiveness is and what a joy it is to know the Forgiver!

Our Father in Heaven whose name is above all names, who created us and all there is, who is the author of our salvation, and who loves us beyond anything we can comprehend, surrounds you, Ray, with His love and His care!

Relax! Rejoice! Remember!

Your brother in Christ,
Dan

Am I not a very fortunate man to have a friend like Dan? God speaks to us through people!

God Speaks - 5

Dan with grandson, Isaac

God speaks to me mostly through His Word, the Bible. If there is a second most significant way God converses with me it is through people. Today we look at how God spoke to me through my prayer partner, Dan. He shared with me this dialogue he had with God.

A conversation with Father .
Dan: Father, I am very distressed by my son's not having a job and by his unwillingness to be open and honest with me about what is going on. He keeps telling me what he thinks I want to hear and he does not share openly with me what is happening and what he is feeling. It is very frustrating and makes it very hard for me to pray for him effectively. It is almost like he doesn't trust me! I just want to help him, but he wants to pretend that every thing is under control. He is not living in reality and it makes me feel bad about our relationship.

Father:
I know what you mean! I get people all the time doing the same thing to Me. You would think I couldn't be trusted.
(Pause - silence)
I seem to remember you doing the same thing to Me.

Dan:
Yes Lord, guilty as charged!

Father:
You know what really bothers Me is when you ask Me to do things that will only make you feel better. Take your son's situation for example. You keep praying that he will get a job. Nothing wrong with that, but why is that so important. Is it not because you are putting your trust in a job as being the solution to your son's problems. Don't you realize that I am the solution to his problems! Put your trust in Me and let me direct the resolution to his problems. From My perspective, you are trusting in the wrong thing in this situation. Can you believe that "I am the way, and the truth, and the life?"

Dan:
Yes Lord, but help my unbelief.

Father:
Don't you know that I love you? If you remain in Me, I will never leave you or forsake you.

Dan:
Thank you, Father.
(Pause - silence)
What do you want from me?

Father:
Micha 6:8 (I had to look up the reference) would be a good verse for you to focus on. It may even be your life verse:

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Thanks Dan for the example of one who converses honestly with God, hears His response and not only yields to Him but shares the experience authentically with me. I'm a blessed man to be your prayer partner.

More tomorrow on God using people to speak to us.

God Speaks - 4

My wife Theresa and daughter Kristin

In our study of listening to God, the Bible has examples that are not as common today.

He spoke through angels in Matthew 2:13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

God spoke through dreams. Matthew 2:13, 19, After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.

And Through a burning bush. Exodus 3:2-4 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. 3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.” 4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied.

A more frequent method of God’ speaking is through other people. The obvious person is St. Paul and his numerous New Testament books. My godly wife often has a word from the Lord for her husband. Friends can be used by God to have a word with you. Words from other people though should be sifted through the seive of Scripture. If they are in any way a violation of the Bible, the words wouldn’t be from God. Of if the expressions contravene the code of community – be detrimental to you or those close to you, the words wouldn’t be from God.

God speaks directly to my wife, Theresa. Her explanation: “sometimes His words sound like my own self talk. At times it is a message from Satan. As I measure the words, I ask myself if they are congruent with Scripture? Do they bring life or do they bring death? God’s words are sometimes convicting but are always embedded in love and are tender, nurturing like being enwrapped in a blanket, bringing life. Satan’s words are pushy, hard and bring some type of death, especially shame and accusation.

John Eldredge experimented one year listening to God’s voice and wrote the results in an interesting book, “Walking with God.” He is a strong believer in hearing God’s voice personally.

We’ll look more tomorrow at how God speaks to us through other people.

God Speaks Through Nature

God speaks to us through His Word, through fasting, through unusual circumstances like Balaam’s donkey, through a direct “soul voice.” Today we listen to God speaking through nature.

Psalm 19:1-4 tels us: The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. 3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. 4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:26 and 28, Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing

On a fishing trip to Glen Allen, Alaska, my fishing guide declared, “How can anyone not believe in God when you observe the majesty of these mountains? When you gaze upon the fields of wild flowers? When you capture the joy of hauling a 45 pound salmon out of these picturesque rivers? God speaks loudly up here.” My fishing guide wasn’t affirming pantheism that claims God is a tree (or some part of nature), but that God speaks through a tree or a river or a mountain.

Even in my home state of North Dakota, God speaks through nature. I say “even” because the state is known for being extremely cold in the winter, very hot in the summer. Wind always blowing through the wide open expanse of prairies cloaked with treeless rolling hills. Tumble weeds scatter across the fields and roads. Rather a bleak setting in which to live. I believe it is the only state with a decreasing population. Yet I believe God speaks through ND nature.

As a boy, I delivered the daily Dickinson Press. Temperatures, twenty to thirty below zero. Wool mask covering my face, laced with icicles dangling from the mask’s chin. Snowing. On those days that the wind wasn’t blowing and the snow fall was light, my eyes would peak through the slats in the mask and behold a sight of sparkling snowflake diamonds gently falling from the sky. A gorgeous sight. God speaking to me through this elegant display of nature, “Ray, I love you. I’m giving you this breathless exhibition of beauty to remind you that you are my priceless treasure. I made these snowflakes. I made you. I adore you.”

And that is Biblical: “Is that a joyous choir I hear? No, it is the Lord himself exulting over you in happy song.” Zephaniah 3:17 LB God rejoices over His children. Including me!

So, questions we can ask ourselves when God is speaking through nature are, 1. what is God saying? 2. What is He saying to me specifically? 3. How can I take what I’ve heard and set it in shoe leather, walking out practical application?
As we’re learning to listen more acutely to God, take time to observe and hear Him through nature.

God Speaks to Us - 3

God speaks to us through the Bible, through fasting and today: 3. Through Balaam’s ass (jackass, donkey) found in Numbers 22:28. Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.
I’ve not heard of that conduit for God’s voice ever happening again, but God can speak to us anyway He chooses!

4. God speaks through a voice. 1 Kings 19:11-13 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

And again in Isaiah 30:-21 Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.

He spoke audibly at Christ’s baptism. Matthew 17:5 But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.”

John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.

Biblical examaples of God speaking through a voice. I’ve never heard with my ears God speak audibly. But I believe I’ve heard Him speak to my soul. A soul voice. At times in my counseling practice, I’d be reflecting on or during a session and quite frequently say to myself, “Wow! Did those words come out of me?” It seemed llike it was such a supernatural thought I shared with the client that it would have had to come from God.

I envy my wife’s ability to listen to God’s voice. He consistenly speaks in a soul voice to her. I’m grateful for a wife who desires to hear from God. I believe listening for the voice of God is like my high jumping experience in high school track and field. Practice. Practice. Practice. As I was stretching to clear higher bars, I’d frequently knock the bar off the standard. Temporary failure. Sometimes mistakes were made. I had started the run at the wrong distance or from slightly the wrong angle. But the goal was always out there – just an inch higher. Just another inch higher. If my recollection is accurate, 5’ 10” was my best – good enough for third place in the state meet. Nothing to celebrate but the discipline to go higher and higher was worth the festivity. I pray that my appetite for going higher in listening for God’s voice will continue. There will be mistakes and knocking the bar off. But the goal is to hear His voice. And not just good enough for third place!

How God Speaks to Us - 2

Continuing our topic, "How God speaks to us," He speaks to us through fasting. Fasting is defined as a voluntary abstinence from food. The process has been called a “sin-detector.”

Fasting, instead of making us holy, reveals our lack of holiness. During a fast, we encounter a deeper level of irritability, of a need to control and other unpleasant products of the flesh. Fasting is one of God’s ways of speaking to us saying, “There is an issue in your life that is hampering your freedom, your joy. Fasting will heighten your awarenes of yourself and reveal baggage that needs to be cleaned out. See it. Confess. Repent. Allow me to work thoroughly in your life to transform you into the godly person you deeply desire.”

Richard Foster says it well. “Fasting reveals the things that control us. We cover up what is inside us with food and other good things, but in fasting these things surface. If pride controls us, it will be revealed almost immediately. Anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear - if they are within us, they will surface during fasting. At first we will rationalize that we are angry because of our hunger.”

Reality must be faced.. The abstinence of food has just revealed what is going on deeply within us. Fasting is our contribution to listening prayer.

The physical pain of hunger can remind us that this is a listening exercise. God speaks to us through or fasting. “Speak Lord, I’m listening.”

Successful Listening

In our continued study of the word listening, Let’s look more carefully at how God speaks to us. The next few posts will be addressing this issue.

1. God speaks through His Word – the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16-17: All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. Nothing more needs to be said! The purpose of listening to God through the Bible is an invaluable adventure.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. If you're reading the Word, be ready to be exposed! Like surgery, the Bible is used by the Holy Spirit to show us "inner cancer" that must be excised. Then, comes healing! Praise the Lord.

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feetand a light for my path.

God speaks most clearly through His Word. Whenever we think God is speaking to us, it must be sifted through the sieve of Scripture. If it conflicts with what the Bible says, the message is not from the Lord.

I think back to the years I spent in private practice counseling. Any success I had as a counselor came through that question I’d ask, “What does God say about this particular problem?” Having memorized several books of the Bible and maintaining a consistent time with the Word gave me the edge in counseling. The Word is our guide to successful living and successful dying. (And the Holy Spirit does the empowering to accomplish what is impossible in ourselves.)

Our major challenge in listening? Fine tuning our ear to hear what God has to say to us through the Scriptures. Tomorrow we’ll look at a donkey in this listening process.

Join with me again in continuing the theme, “LISTENING TO GOD”

“Listening to God can be the most sublime and joy-filled privilege in the world or it can become the most absurd exercise we ever embark on, laying us wide open to eccentricities, extremes and errors. ” Joyce Huggett

Though there are pitfalls in listening , it seems that God actually wants to dialogue with us. Bolster that thought with Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths.” As I listen to Him, He will direct my paths!

Think of the dynamics of this concept. The Creator, the one who says in Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

The One who in Romans 8:28 says He will work all things that I experience for my good. That is the God of the universe saying, “Ray, I want conversational intimacy with you so that I can bless you beyond your greatest dreams.” (Ephesians 3:20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.)

Scripture directs, yea commands us to listen. Proverbs chapter one has the word “listen” four times. Proverbs is called the book of wisdom and discipline. Listen to to the tenets of Proverbs and you’ll be a wiser and more disciplined person.

At the Transfiguration, a loud voice came from he cloud saying, “This is my son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased. LISTEN TO HIM." (Matthew 17:2,5) Not “talk to Him.” Not ask him for things. Listen to Him.

Jesus emphasized listening when he often said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” Matthew records this in 11:15; 13:9 and 43. In the last book of the Bible, The Revelation, Jesus concludes His messages to the churches with “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Found in Revelation, chapters two and three.)

I wonder if Jesus saw the same problem then as we see now. Listening is not a natural strength of most people. Our minds are busy. Noise distracts. Goals consume our thinking. We’d prefer talking over listening. We think ahead to what we’ll say rather than pay attention to whom we should be listening. All consuming thoughts vascilate between running marathons through our brains and sprinting headlong into, ‘what should I be doing now? I must not forget that 4 p.m. appointment. Will I be able to pay the bills this month? Is she rejecting me? What happens if I get laid off my job?” And on and on our thoughts sometimes play tag with each other, obstructing our listening ability.

“We have two options,” suggests John Eldredge in his book Walking with God. “We can trudge through on our own, doing our best to figure it all out. Or, we can walk with God. As in, learn to hear his voice. Really. We can live life with God. He offers to speak to use and guide us….”
As with Samuel, I echo, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” (1 Sam. 3:9)

Pendleton Roundup

Redneck cattle hauler.

Been to the Pendleton, Oregon Roundup. All bull riding Tuesday night. Regular rodeo the remainder of the week. The accompanying picture is a far cry from the horse haulers on display in the streets of Pendleton. Magnificient machines that horses and people alike can bed down in.

I had to ask myself during the event, “What is so appealing about a rodeo?” My college roommate, Jerry Isaacson, and I make this an annual trek, he coming from Vancouver, I from Idaho. How can it be appealing when bull and bronc riders get flung all over the field – some to rise very slowly to limp back to the chutes, one arm dangling in a position of pain; others to be carried off on a stretcher. “I don’t get it Burwick. Why do you enjoy such an obvious activity of trauma?”

I’m not sure. There is a beauty of “wild beast” being conquered by man. It probably hooks into some of my competitive juices – man against animal. There is a connection also, with my appreciation for horses, having raised Tennessee Walkers in Birmingham. And there is a splendor of a bucking, twisting bull’s head going one direction. His rear end going the opposite and someow the midsection, where the cowboy is sitting (tentatively) gyrates in high flying leaps endeavoring to unseat the culprit attached to a rope around animal belly. Ride the bull for just 8 seconds. Must seem like an eternity when bouncing between heaven and earth.

On the other hand, Indian horse races are exciting. The women’s barrel racing is an exhilarating event where animal and rider have the same objective – get around those three barrels faster than anyone else.

The whole attention of the little city is focused on the Roundup. Streets are closed for musical performances. A party atmosphere. “Make mine a diet pepsi, please.” Good time. Looking forward to next year’s event.

Value of "Dark Places"

One of the best gainthroughloss articles I've seen lately is today's devotional by Os Hillman.

"The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position" (James 1:9).
Whenever God takes a saint to a very lowly state it is designed to accomplish something only that process can do. Job learned that "He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light" (Job 12:22). Job's trials allowed him to learn things about God, himself and his friends that we all needed to know as well. He assumed things about God that he had to recant: "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know" (Job 42:3).

God reveals things in the dark places of circumstances that will be used to reveal something He wants you and others to know. He has sent you ahead to learn these things so that you and others will benefit from your unique experience. God views this place where you receive these truths as a high position. The world views it as a place to be despised.

"He called down a famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; and he sent a man before them - Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true" (Psalms 105:16-19).

Joseph was also led to this high position. It was here he was prepared to be the most powerful man in the world as a thirty-year old. He learned many things about God during his captivity that was used later as a ruler over a nation.

So, if you find yourself in a lowly state, realize your lowly state is considered a high position by God that is preparation soil for revealing deep things from the dark places that God desires you to learn.

Going to the Pendleton Roundup. Will be back with you Monday.

Listening Involves Action

We’re examining the topic “listen,” especially listening to God.
Listening to the God, who in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 says “Hear (listen) O Israel. The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Notice, action is included in the hearing.

In the Old Testament, “hear” is the Hebrew word “shama,”defined as to listen intelligently with action to be taken (obedience). In the New Testament,”hear” is best described as “listening with understanding – to not only hear the sound but grasp the meaning.”
Thus, to listen, to hear has a two fold imperative: not only hear and understand what is being spoken, but follow with a response of action.

An example of a man listening to God is found in 1 Chronicles 14:10. So David asked God, “Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord replied, “Yes, go ahead. I will give you the victory.”
And in Genesis 12:7 we hear God speaking again, “Then the Lord apeared to Abram and said, “I am going to give this land to your offspring.” Scores of verses could verify God speaking to His people.To Adam, to David, to Solomon, to Samuel, to Moses “as a man speaks to his friend” (Exod. 33:11)

Can we ask God personal questions today and receive an answer? Some would say, “Ray, that was Old Testament. We’re living in New Testament time. God only speaks now through His Word, the Bible.” Others would disagree because the Bible tells us that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He doesn’t change. He’ll talk to us now.

In the New Testament we observe God speaking to Saul (Paul) on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:4-6). To Peter in Acts 10. And besides that you have that John 10:27 quote of Jesus, “My sheep listen to my voice and they follow.” God speaks now through His Word, through dreams, through visions, through angels, through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, through nature – indeed, any way He chooses.

Joyce Huggett in her book “Listening to God,” quotes David Watson: “God did not finish speaking to us when the scriptures were completed…God is the living God, the God of today; and every day he wants us to enjoy a living relationship with Him, involving a two-way conversation."
God actually wants to dialogue with you and me. Are we listening? Am I being obedient to what I hear?

Am I Teachable

A question to ask ourselves at this juncture of listening to God is: “Am I teachable. Do I have a teachable spirit? Am I willing to listen to God and be taught by Him?”

We can begin to measure that by viewing Biblical examples of persons who were teachable.
Luke 11:1 Teaching about Prayer. Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Acts 8:31 Urge to learn. The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

Acts 16:30 Teachable for salvation. Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

1 Corinthians 2:14 Prerequisite. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

When we joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ in 1968, they had two basic requirements to be a staff member. A heart for God and a teachable spirit.

That would be an appropriate measuring stick for almost any significant encounter – relationally or vocationally. To continue to want to learn is not only mentally healthy but a real sign of maturity. “God, help me never be satisfied with the knowledge I have, but continue to desire to learn more.”

To help determine our teachability it might be helpful to encounter someone close who can be honest with us and ask them, “Am I coachable? Do you sense a teachable spirit in me?” Proverbs tells us that a wise person seeks counsel. She is teachable and benefits from listening to God.

Listen for God's Guidance

We listed benefits of listening to God in yesterday’s post. There is more, under the theme “God’s Guidance:”

Psalm 23: 2 He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.
Psalm 139:9-10 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.
Psalm 25:9 He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way.
Psalm 73:24 You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.

Isaiah 30:21 Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,whether to the right or to the left.”
Isaiah 42:16 I will lead blind Israel down a new path, guiding them along an unfamiliar way. I will brighten the darkness before them and smooth out the road ahead of them. Yes, I will indeed do these things; I will not forsake them.

John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
Deuteronomy 32:11-12 Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers over her young, so he spread his wings to take them up and carried them safely on his pinions. 12 The Lord alone guided them; they followed no foreign gods. Psa.27: 11 Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me.

One of the greatest, if not the greatest, experiences of my life has been to build a pole barn. "How in the world can building a pole barn be your greatest experience? " you ask. Let me tell you why.

We had purchased 17 acres of raw land near Birmingham to build a small horse ranch. I asked my dad, who was so capable with building skills, to help me. I had always wanted a close relationship with him. That hadn’t happened and it didn’t happen with the barn. His comment was, “I’m too old.”

I believe, no, I know, it was God who said to me. “I’ll be your father. We’ll build this barn together.” And what a great time we had – building and conversing together. The two -year project began with, "Father, how are we going to build this barn? I prayerfully drew up a set of plans. A neighbor, an architect, examined the plans, made a couple tweaking suggestions and, like Noah, I was off to build my "ark."

Holes were dug 6 feet apart for a 30 by 30 structure. 14 foot poles cemented in. Dialogue with God flourished. "How do I do this, Papa? Thank you for wisdom on that maneuver, Father. What's next, Papa?" One day I recall saying, “Papa Father, how am I going to get that 2 by 12 by 12 feet long to span the top of those12 foot poles?” After a moment, the proper maneuver came to me. And up went the span. Numerous would be the examples I could list, seeking God’s guidance. Receiving it and being blessed by it. So exciting to have a practical fellowship with the Creator of the Universe, seeking and receiving His leadership.

No more barn-building for me now - just working with barnwood: making furniture, birdhouses, picture frames etc. Still talking and listening to the Father for guidance in those projects.

God's guidance: one of the blessings of listening to Him.

Benefits of Listening to God

Listening to God from a self-centered perspective only, has many benefits to us.

Physical benefits, healing. God doesn’t promise health and wealth to all as some would have us believe. But in general, as we follow Biblical guidelines for living, (“don’t let the sun go down on your anger” and “don’t worry about anything,” would be two examples,) the Christian’s general health tenor is toward wholeness and wellbeing. Exodus 15:26 He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”

Always be on the “top of things.” That doesn’t mean the christian always wins at some aspect of life like a sporting event, but basically as we listen to God we’ll be on the top of things. Deuteronomy 28:13 If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.

Fellowship with Christ. Jn 6:45 As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.

To receive God’s blessings. Listen and obey Matthew 13:16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

For joy. Proverbs 8:34 Joyful are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home!

For wisdom. Proverbs 15:31 If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise. Proverbs 25:12 To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry. The whole second chapter of Proverbs emphasizes wisdom.

Desire to learn. Proverbs 18:15 Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge.

Productivity. Luke 8:15 And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.

Just some of the practical benefits of listening to God.

Benefits of listening to God summed up: listening to God provides a guide to successful living and successful dying!

Maturation through Pain

Divert with me from the topic “listening” to a blurb I wrote for a mentoring situation Sunday.

We’re all born selfish, arrogant and ego-centric. This state carries on to some degree until adulthood. God draws us to Himself and we begin a walk with Him. For the new Believer it is a spiritual infatuation state – self-centered, thrilled with what Christianity has done for them.

Out of this beginning we are asked to cooperate with God’s Spirit to forge lives of selflessness, compassion and love. This transformation is impossible apart from adversity. Suffering. Becoming Christ-like and others-centered is a painful process. We tend to avert this route, possibly through an addiction or another avoidance mechanism, missing out on the opportunity for pesonal growth.

We have two choices: a maturing relationship with God or major disallusionment and growing selfishness that develops from avoiding suffering.

Suffering. The question is not whether we’ll suffer, but how we’ll suffer and just as important, how we’ll respond to suffering. Romans 5:3-5 helps us understand the Biblical role of suffering. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Catch the progression: suffering > endurance (perseverance) > strength of character > hope > never disappointed.
Gary Thomas in his book Authentic Faith suggests that Character is forged only when we pass through fire. Suffering is ordained on our behalf, teaching us to endure with hope and patience, valuing it for the benefit it brings. Suffering is not a house in which to dwell but a doorway to blessing.